"On The Mark" MMA Musings
By Mark W
Time For The UFC To Reinvent Itself
".... can I ask you a personal question? Do you spray the
perfume on, or do you just fill your bathtub up with it at home and splash
around in it? "
Dr. Perry Cox - Scrubs
Perry
and I obviously feel the same about the UFC's 'tired' product. It does
need something to hide the stale scent. As a fan I was very happy to
see the Strikeforce event on CBS. While they gave us a glimpse of
Fedor in PrimeTime, it was refreshing to not hear that constant UFC
propaganda
peddled to us by Goldman and Rogan or see the outrageous number of UFC
commercials designed to get us to sign up for another PPV. It's not
that I felt the Strikeforce
commentators were particularly good, I'm simply tired of hearing the
same UFC
self-promotion. It's actually to the point where I hit the mute button
when a
UFC match is aired.
The other issue relates simply to that of competition and entertainment. It is a brilliant move to have Mayham Miller on
any telecast and an equally smart move to bring in Big John to ref key
matches. Of course, seeing Dr. Dave (my
former chiropractor) ref a match is a treat. I loved seeing ANYTHING other than
the usual UFC formula for fights.
Which brings me to another point of why the UFC needs to take a long look at
reinventing itself. For the first time,
I'm noticing discontent on Twitter, Facebook and a host of other social media
sites about the quality of the PPVs AND the $44.99 price. I didn't even see the last PPV because the card
didn't appeal to me. Apparently a
lot of folks agreed with me, although the UFC made good money at 104
And don't forget that TUF is not held in favor by fighters and managers as
it was in the past. According to MMA
junkie, TUF Season 11 only had 200-300 candidates try out while Season 9 had
over 700 hopefulls attempt to quality. Apparently many past cast members didn't feel that they were portrayed
accurately.
So where does this line of thought lead us?
Simple. 'Vote with your feet'. Contact
the UFC and let them know that you've had enough of a bland product and
that
they need to reconnect with their customers.
Support HDNET, CBS & Strikeforce and other promotions. Once the UFC
sees increased numbers elsewhere they'll have to respond. Remember that
'a few ratings points' means the difference when negotiating those big
advertising contracts. MMA has become big business, in a large part
because of the foresight and investment of Zuffa. Now it's time they
stopped living off
their past success and lead the way as the sport continues to become
mainstream.
Time To Fit Dana For A Muzzle?
"Hat's off, there, .... That was one
potent combination of verbal diarrhea and stunned silence."
Dr Perry Cox - Scrubs
There's nothing Dana White can say that would surprise
me, but he's stretching his comments about Amateur MMA. Check this
out.
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/dana-white-not-a-fan-of-amateur-mma/
There's so much to say based on his comments, but, here's my 'best of the
worst';
He wants Amateur MMA run with the same integrity as, get this, the Olympic
Committee which relies on USA Boxing! These
are the folks Dana says are 'people of integrity'! If you don't know why that's
a joke then you need to do some reading.
Boxing lost it's luster and created the opening for MMA due to abject
corruption and an almost monopolistic and self propogating promotion system as well as
an alphabet soup of associations. Does
any of this sound familiar? What Was He
Thinking!!
States should run amateur MMA for the fighter's safety? Yea, just like they run professional MMA - making
it difficult for other promoters to run their businesses and provide fighters
with the safest environment possible while giving fans great fight cards. If I told you some of the BS stories that
GOOD promoters from around the country have related to me, you would be amazed.
It's really no wonder that promoters
look to partner with the local Indian Tribes to promote on 'reservations'. By the way, funny how the UFC doesn't seem to
be hampered by any of these issues?
Lastly, how many times can the guy say 'f**k' in an interview? If the
UFC is
going to be the face of MMA to the world, then it's time for Dana to
act like
he belongs 'in the big boy pants'. Can
you imagine the NFL's Roger Goddell publicly embarrassing himself with
such language
and inane bashing of everything from gays to women to amateur fighters
and promoters? C'mon Dana, we know you're a smart guy, but
the arrogance is becoming tiresome. Just
like the product you've been peddling lately.
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